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Archive for May 2nd, 2011

No, this isn’t a preview of Sarah Palin’s first day in Office! [but it could be] No, this is just another day in the life of Sarah Palin as she raises money for charity and thrills the crowds.

As you know, the “big show” in town on Saturday was the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, that annual “roast” of the president, or in Obama’s case, love fest. The big news there was Obama going after Trump. Yawn. Low hanging fruit.

While the evening activities were certainly the focal point for those attending, the real buzz in town was Sarah Palin, who didn’t even attend the event!

Sarah, Todd, Bristol, along with their hosts Greta Van Susteren and her husband John Coale were making the rounds though, and helping raise money for charity. Bristol did go to the “Nerd Prom” as those not invited to the Correspondent’s Dinner are fond of calling it. She was the guest of People Magazine, as we reported she would be. Our friend Adrienne Ross was part of the crew as well. More on that in a bit.

The morning started off at the annual White House garden Brunch, hosted by Tammy Haddad. This charity event raises money to find a cure for children with epilepsy. This was Todd’s second trip to the brunch, as he attended in 2009 as Greta’s guest, while Sarah was in Alaska attending to the business of governing the state.

Speaking of Todd, the big talk was his newly shaven face. Of course this fueled speculation of an impending run by Sarah. Many seeing this as sign Todd will be spending a lot of time in warmer climates in the coming months. Or, it could just be he was sick of his trademark goatee.

Make no mistake about it: The big star at Tammy Haddad’s eighteenth annual garden brunch was not, say, Chace Crawford, Morgan Fairchild or Shaun White. The biggest head-turner was Sarah Palin, who attended the party with Fox News’ s Greta Van Susteren. Palin was also accompanied by her husband, Todd, and daughter Bristol.

We had to ask: Why was the former Alaska governor, who has knocked the Georgetown cocktail party crowd in the past, at the brunch?

“The nice thing about this is we’re doing this for a cause, for special needs, which, of course, is near and dear to my heart,” Palin told POLITICO. “A nice social event combined with helping to raise awareness and funds for special needs. We’re honored to be here.”

And is Palin looking forward to bumping into Donald Trump, another of the weekend’s most-buzzed-about guests, at some point?

“He’s our buddy! We appreciate and respect Donald Trump,” she said.

Once inside, guests of all stripes angled to get a picture with Palin, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

The hubbub was enough to cause one reporter to quip: “Look at all these reporters who typically rip her a new one mosey on up to her, desperate to get a photograph.”

This trend of members of the lamestream media wanting to get next to Sarah would continue well into the night. More on that later, as well. .

BETHESDA, Md. – Sarah Palin boasted to a group of anti-abortion advocates Saturday that she had a chance to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – but chose to spend her time with them instead.

“The pro-life cause or White House Correspondents’ Dinner? I choose life,” Palin told a crowd of about 200 at a fundraiser for the anti-abortion advertising group Heroic Media.

Palin said journalism’s nerd prom didn’t have the same appeal for her as presidential hopefuls who attended, like Donald Trump, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman. “You really see evidence of that influence out there of – you know – the celebrity, how the news is, and the political arena, and how it all kind of meshes together. That’s what the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is,” she said.

So instead Palin spoke for more than 45 minutes at a “Jews for Sarah” gathering at a hotel here.

She never mentioned Israel during her remarks, but she stumped hard against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights advocates, encouraging her listeners to continue fighting for “positive pro-life messages” in the media.

“We’re not going to be absent from that arena,” she said. “I think we kind of want to infiltrate it. We want to get in there and affect that change.”

Palin praised Heroic Media’s advertising against abortion, on billboards, online and in social media. She also presented an award to Lila Rose, the videographer and activist who did a video sting operation against Planned Parenthood and worked with James O’Keefe on his sting against ACORN.

“Planned Parenthood doesn’t empower women, or offer women who find themselves in less than ideal circumstances any kind of real choice,” she said. “What they offer is not real choice or female health care.”

Jewish Americas For Sarah Palin [Jews for Sarah] is a group of Conservative Jewish leaders headed by our friend Benyamin Korn. They have been strong supporters of Sarah and her policies. Make sure you check their website out.

After the event, Sarah and Todd went to the Vanity Fair/Bloomberg after-party for the White House crowd, at the French Ambassador’s residence, where they caught back up with Bristol, Greta, and her husband John. From there it was over to the MSNBC [yes, you read that right, MSNBC] after-party, held at the Italian Embassy.

Just as it was with the morning brunch, as soon as people learned Sarah was at these events, the people who normally spend their time bashing her, fell all over themselves trying to spend time with her. Reading the reactions on Twitter last night was entertaining!

Felicia Sonmez, the Washington Post’s political blogger reported through a series of tweets:

“@sarahpalinusa was at msnbc afterparty… Msnbc’s rachel maddow offered to make @sarahpalinusa a drink, & palin asked for a diet coke. Maddow brought 1 over a few mins later…Then both had a v pleasant exchange in which it sounded like r. maddow invited s. palin on the show 1 day and palin responded positively… palin was mobbed once guests realized she was there… Asked whether she’s running for potus, palin said a decision’s still a few months off and she’s still sizing up the field… She said she’s not satisfied yet with those who’ve already announced, but won’t make a decision until the summer. Also: family a big factor

On Sunday Greta was still talking about how Sarah stole the entire show in D.C. Saturday night!

Governor Sarah Palin and the media (all of them!)

What is is about Governor Sarah Palin and the media? Last night she was in DC to give a speech and thus could not attend the White House Correspondents Dinner.

She DID go to two after parties to meet some people and catch up with her daughter Bristol who was in town for the dinner.

But what is fascinating to watch is how the media (all of them!) just can’t get enough of Governor Sarah Palin. They were all taking pictures of her with themselves for souvenirs and writing about her. She was prominent in the Washington Post coverage, Politico and I think the New York Times. Her name and picture was everywhere!

With all the movie stars at the dinner, and big media and government names (Cabinet Secretaries and Senators etc.), whose picture does Vanity Fair show? You guessed it …(and she was only at their after party and not the dinner!)

Uffda at Barbaric Thoughts put together a nice compilation of tweets and assorted cellphone cam photos. Check it out.

As I said earlier, our friend Adrienne Ross was also with the group. Adrienne is one of Sarah’s long time supporters and one heck of a writer and Conservative advocate. Adrienne shares some photos with her readers, here’s a couple:

Check out the rest of her photos, and her account of the day here. While you’re there, make sure you bookmark her blog. It’s essential reading.

My thoughts on all of this:

Once again, Sarah Palin shows she’s fearless. Somehow I doubt any of the GOP show ponies would have the guts to dive right into the Washington liberal scene, or as Andrew Breitbart calls it, the Democrat Media Complex. Most especially if they had been treated the way this bunch has treated Sarah.

I KNOW none of the Republican establishment would have the guts to do that!

But there’s more to it, and this is what sets Sarah Palin apart from the crowd.

Not only did she go in support of a couple of great charities, and then have some fun and network a bit, at the after-parties, she was gracious while doing it.

She treated these people the way she’d want to be treated, not the way she has been treated by them. She was generous with her time, and had some long and serious conversations as well as just hanging out and having fun.

She spend a fair amount of time with the financial reporter from the New York Observer explaining why QE2 was dangerous. Freaked him out!

I’m reminded of something Sarah said last year during the heated election season: “We are going to stay happy and may we always be happy and may our enemies know it!”

Sarah Palin is a happy warrior, just like the great Ronald Reagan. Reagan had the same dynamic with the media as Sarah, and like her, always had the last laugh. I enjoyed that dynamic of the Reagan presidency very much. It’s fun to have that sort of thing again.

Jason Mattera, editor of Human Events, shares parts of his interview with Conservative media giant, Andrew Breitbart. Here Breitbart discusses how Sarah Palin, unlike the rest of the GOP, understands how today’s pop culture influences everything, including politics, and how to use it.

In fact, not only does Andrew Breitbart think that Palin’s the only GOP candidate to understand how culture influences politics (not vice versa), but he believes that that’s why the mainstream media targeted the former Alaska governor. “They want to destroy her,” he told us, “because they [media] recognize that she has a transcendent pop culture factor.“

Jason and Andrew, while discussing other presidents who “got” pop culture, left one former President out. Richard Nixon understood the power of culture, and famously appeared on the hip, and very edgy show [for it’s day] Laugh-In, where he said “Sock it to me!(?)” one of the hip phrases of the day. It was remarkable because he came off as “the man” TRYING to be hip, but it worked. People liked Nixon for it.

I think normal people Sarah Palin’s age [and mine] are quite comfortable with pop culture, and take it for granted.

People born in the late 50’s, early 60s, who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s were exposed to a different world than our elders. Our culture was more media driven. Not to mean it was all shallow, or superficial, it’s just we were used to more media exposure from a variety of sources, than our parents, and frankly, to most of us, it just “was“. It had always been with us, so it didn’t seem out of place.

My parents, and their contemporaries could, and would, quote Will Rogers and Mark Twain, among others. That was their “pop culture.” People my age quote classic lines from Caddyshack, Animal House, and Saturday Night Live! It is what it is.

The Republican establishment has so insulated itself from the real world, by embracing the Washington Beltway, are totally clueless. They have forgotten what the real world is like, and they are so set in their ways, they’ll never embrace the new world.

This, by the way, is what happens when one of the GOP establishment tries to act hip. If that’s not pathetic enough, it just so happens that was a Martin Luther King Day rally in Jacksonville, Florida in 2008! Kids, and establishment Republican presidential wannabees, don’t try this at home!

Mattera and Breitbart also discuss Katie Couric, and her fall from grace, after driving CBS’ already dismal evening news ratings straight into the ground:

Speaking of Sarah Palin, her nemesis during the ’08 campaign was Katie Couric, who was not really trying give American voters information about this possible vice president, but was instead out to humiliate her.

Palin got the last laugh, Breitbart says, when CBS dismissed Couric for her abysmal ratings. “When I watch Katie Couric lose her job, that is a victory in this battle, because that person has manipulated media in the name of objectivity to take people down.“

Breitbart also discusses the ascendancy of citizen journalism, and alternative Conservative media, as well as where the future will take us.

Governor Palin spoke to CNS News on the red carpet at the MSNBC White House Correspondents’ Afterparty with yours truly in the background. She was emphatic about her non-support of raising the debt ceiling:

I absolutely do think the Republicans and Democrats – any common sense fiscal conservatives who understand that we can’t just give another tool to big spenders – I think they should vote against the debt ceiling”

[…]

Otherwise, it’s just unlimited debt that we’re going to incur in this nation.

by Josh Painter
*
Mark Malseed and Alex Salta at OhMyGov! want to know, “Can anyone or anything stop the social media juggernaut that is Sarah Palin?”

An analysis by OhMyGov of social media activity during the early stages of the 2012 campaign reveals that Palin can do no wrong when it comes to Facebook and Twitter. Palin’s social media fan growth so far in 2011 outshines that of any other GOP contender, declared or rumored, in many cases by a factor of 10. And she doesn’t need to be part of the day’s big story to experience continued rapid growth.

The former Alaska governor has gained momentum in a number of unexpected situations. Palin attracted more news coverage than both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty in the days following their announcements of presidential exploratory committees, as OhMyGov reported yesterday, even as her own presidential intentions remain unclear. Palin also drew more new social media followers than Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the aftermath of the assassination attempt in Tucson that left Giffords critically wounded. And Palin saw her biggest spike in new Facebook fans — or “Likes” of her page — around the time of President Obama’s State of the Union speech, which she provocatively criticized as being full of “WTF moments.”

Anytime Palin becomes part of a news story, whether deliberately or unwittingly, our analysis shows, she benefits handsomely on social media. With a commanding advantage in Facebook fans over all her potential GOP primary opponents — and a strong showing on Twitter as well — Palin wields a lot of influence in the campaign whether she enters the race or not.

[…]

After keeping a respectful silence in the first days following the Tucson attacks, Palin made her first public statement via a video message released on January 12, resulting in a slew of traditional media coverage and social media activity.

In the 24 hours after accusing the mainstream media of “blood libel” in her video statement, Palin picked up another 3,021 Twitter followers and a staggering 15,068 new Facebook fans. Within a week of her remarks Palin netted roughly 9,000 new Twitter followers, proving once again that in politics there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Gov. Palin’s social media presence is remarkably strong, the authors note, pointing out that the 150,000 Facebook fans Gov. Palin picked up during just the weeks of the State of the Union and her India trip are more than most politicians, government agencies and many in the GOP presidential field can claim in total fans.

Tonight, Sarah will be giving a Tribute to the Troops at Colorado Christian University at 7:00pm Mountain Time, 9:00pm Eastern. She will be appearing along side distinguished military leaders and service members to show appreciation to our nation’s men and women in uniform past, and present – at home, and abroad.

All proceeds will be donated to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a charity benefiting families of the fallen.

While Barack Obama and the press schmoozed it up at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner on Saturday, the former Governor of Alaska chose a different venue, a pro-life event titled, “Heroes Among Us” in Bethesda, MD.

Palin delivered the keynote address at the fundraiser for the anti-abortion group, Heroic Media stating, ““The pro-life cause or White House Correspondents’ Dinner? I choose life. We’re not going to be absent from that arena… I think we kind of want to infiltrate it. We want to get in there and affect that change.”

Palin presented an award to Lila Rose, a pro-life activist who conducted a video sting operation against Planned Parenthood.

“Planned Parenthood doesn’t empower women or offer women who find themselves in less than ideal circumstances any kind of real choice. What they offer is not real choice or female health care,” Palin said as she stumped hard against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights advocates.

Meanwhile, back at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Obama took shots at Donald Trump for his show, The Celebrity Apprentice, and for focusing on Obama’s birth certificate.

For Trump’s decision to fire actor Busey instead of Meat Loaf on the show, Obama joked, “These are the types of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir.”

Kudos to Palin for choosing to affect change, rather than focusing on Donald Trump’s hair. Palin did attend two after parties “to meet some people and catch up with her daughter Bristol who was in town for the dinner,” according to Greta Van Susteren at her blog, GretaWire.

It’s interesting to read Van Susteren’s take on how the media, yes the same people who take all of their effort to negatively portray the former Governor in the press, were fawning over the potential 2012 candidate.

“…what is fascinating to watch is how the media (all of them!) just can’t get enough of Governor Sarah Palin,” Van Susteren writes. “They were all taking pictures of her with themselves for souvenirs and writing about her. She was prominent in the Washington Post coverage, Politico and I think the New York Times. Her name and picture was everywhere!

With all the movie stars at the dinner, and big media and government names (Cabinet Secretaries and Senators etc.), whose picture does Vanity Fair show? You guessed it …(and she was only at their after party and not the dinner!)”
—–

Americans everywhere are reacting to the news of Osama Bin Ladin’s death, including the former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, who addressed the situation through a Facebook post Sunday night titled, “A Grateful Nation.”

“Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude,” Palin said. “God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring Bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy. This is a victory for the American people, for the victims who were heartlessly murdered on September 11 and in Al Qaeda’s other numerous attacks, and for all the peace-loving people of the world. May God bless our troops and our intelligence services, and God bless America!”

Many other 2012 Republican hopefuls also commented on the heroic acts of our American military forces, including Mitt Romney who stated, “”This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere. Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden’s many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist.”

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said, “”This is terrific news for freedom and justice. In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush promised that America would bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and we did.”

However, Mike Huckabee’s reaction stands out above others as the former Arkansas Governor forcefully stated, “Welcome to hell, bin Laden.”

No doubt, bin Laden’s death will play some sort of role in the 2012 election when it comes to the Obama administration and national security, but with news coverage focused on bin Laden, Americans can expect a delay in any official candidacy announcements.
—–

Americans tonight are united in celebration and gratitude. God bless all the brave men and women in our military and our intelligence services who contributed to carrying out the successful mission to bring bin Laden to justice and who laid the groundwork over the years to make this victory possible. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of these brave Americans who relentlessly hunted down our enemy.

This is a victory for the American people, for the victims who were heartlessly murdered on September 11 and in Al Qaeda’s other numerous attacks, and for all the peace-loving people of the world.

“Planned Parenthood doesn’t empower women, or offer women who find themselves in less than ideal circumstances any kind of real choice. What they offer is not real choice or female health care.”
– Sarah Palin

(Photo courtesy of Adrienne Ross)

On Friday, April 29, members of the Alaska Federation of Republican Women (AFRW) heard from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski as she came to speak to the delegates. As many of you know, Lisa Murkowski lost the primary election for the Republican seat in Alaska to Joe Miller, but proceeded to mount a controversial write-in campaign and eventually kept the senate seat in the general election. This has been very divisive within the Republican party in Alaska. One of the most divisive components is her stance on Life. The Alaska Republican Party Platform addresses the issue of Life as follows:

“We endorse the Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Man is made in the image of God; we embrace the sanctity of life from the moment of conception until natural death. We heartily encourage our elected officials to use every legal means to protect the unborn and recognize the worth of even the smallest members of the human race.”

Our senior senator Murkowski recently voted against defunding Planned Parenthood. On her own in her speech to the AFRW, the senator acknowledged her campaign had divided the party, but she stated she hoped we could “all unite” in efforts to strengthen the Republican Party in Washington. An article appeared in today’s “Frontiersman,” the Wasilla newspaper, about the AFRW event. Her comments were very interesting regarding the divisiveness within the party:

She told the group that although she knows that some of them did not agree with her decision to move forward with a write-in campaign to keep her Senate seat, she hopes they can now unite in their efforts to strengthen the GOP in Washington.

“There were people who had been friends for a long time who weren’t able to talk about the campaign because it became as emotional as it did,” she said. “I took a risk, those of you who stayed with me took a risk. I thank you for that. But I also know that that risk caused more than just mild discomfort. It caused some real anxiety. But we have a challenge in front of us as a federation. I challenge you all to figure out how to build on the strengths we have as Republican women in this state.”

While people criticize Gov. Palin for “quitting” office and dividing the state, it is elected officials like Murkowski that are truly divisive. (See here for our position on the quitter arguement.)Mounting a write-in campaign against the wishes of her constituents after losing in the primary has created a rift that many feel will only be closed once she is out of office. Her stance on the Life issue is a major reason why she lost the Republican nomination during the primary to begin with. The Life issue turned out to be the pivotal point in that election and what keeps many from supporting her to this day.

Continuing on in her speech to the AFRW and wrapping up comments, she addressed questions. One delegate to the convention then asked the pivotal question – why did Murkowski NOT support defunding Planned Parenthood? The “Frontiersman” article addresses this question, and Murkowski’s answer:

When one woman in the back of the room asked her why she didn’t support cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that made more than $900 million in profits last year that the woman considers to be corrupt, Murkowski was clear on her own message there.

“I don’t believe that Planned Parenthood should be entirely defunded,” she said. “The House measure would have been a complete and total elimination of those dollars. I happen to believe that Planned Parenthood does do good things for women in this country, particularly low-income women, and I was willing to put myself behind that position in that vote. That’s my perspective and if people feel differently, they vote the other way. I think we saw that final outcome.”

She was willing to put herself behind that position? “That’s my perspective…” she states. What about what her constituents want? What about the Alaska Republican Party platform?

Contrast this with Gov. Palin. Yesterday, Gov. Palin had the opportunity to speak at the Heroic Media “Heroes Among Us” fundraiser dinner. This speech was attended also by Adrienne Ross, writer and founder of Motivation Truth, a site which supports Gov. Palin. In her speech, Gov. Palin showed that she is a true conservative Alaskan woman who stands by those who adhere to the Alaska Republican Party Platform. Gov. Palin addressed her own decision to choose life, and that of her daughter Bristol as well:

Upon learning that she was pregnant with a child with Down Syndrome, she said, she went through an array of emotions which led her to rely on God’s strength, Who said He would not give us any more than we can handle, yet she remembers saying to God, “I think you over-estimated me this time!” She spent her pregnancy, she so transparently shared, crying out for God’s miraculous touch.

The moment Trig was born, as he melted in her arms, she knew God had answered her prayers. He changed her world then, and he continues to inspire, as she watches him greet every day with applause–literally. “Trig is the light of our life,” she said.

She then shared Bristol’s story–yes, less than ideal circumstances once again, but Bristol found strength to do the right thing. Both mother and daughter embraced life, believing in God’s strength–and not taking counsel from those who choose to believe that women are not strong enough to handle the challenges they face. “Choosing life may not be the easy path, but it is the right path,” she declared.

And then the governor addressed the Planned Parenthood issue:

Contrast this to Planned Parenthood, which the Governor called out for all its corruption and dedication to abortion. Planned Parenthood, she said, doesn’t show other options. “What they offer is not real choice.” She went on to state that the federal government has no business subsidizing such an organization, particularly when we have a major fiscal problem on our hands. America gives $1,000,000 taxpayer dollars to them every day, and Governor Palin emphatically said, she doesn’t want her money paying for the abortion of a child. We will not stop until not one cent goes to Planned Parenthood and funding abortion, she vowed.

She spoke at length about Lila Rose, whom she presented with the Heroes Among Us Award. Governor Palin praised Lila for being passionate about life, for exposing Planned Parenthood for its illegal activities, and for fearlessly speaking out on this issue. She compared Lila’s work to that of human rights activism. “She’s using her voice to defend the voiceless,” the Governor said. Unlike what you hear in the media, Governor Palin is not intent on making herself the focus. Much–if not most–of her speech was dedicated to praising this young woman whom she respects greatly.

Upon receiving the award, Ms. Rose immediately called attention to Governor Palin’s own heroism, stating that she is a hero to all women. Heroic Media defines a hero as “someone who makes great personal sacrifices for the benefit of others.” Yes, both Governor Palin and Lila Rose qualify.

Sarah Palin is unabashedly, unequivocally Pro-Life and is not afraid to stand up and tell the world. Many here in Alaska respect that greatly.

As for Sen. Murkowski – she was elected to be a voting delegate at the AFRW convention, and was to attend the second day of the convention and vote. However, she sent a proxy in her stead and did not show. Who knows why? Maybe it had to do with the hard question she was asked by that delegate about Planned Parenthood, a delegate who later defended that question to a handful of Murkowski supporters in attendance. Maybe it was the conversation she had with another delegate in the hall, an ardent Joe Miller supporter, who let her know that we will not forget where she stands and how she votes on this and other issues. Or maybe it was the huge truck that someone hired which circled the AFRW venues both days. On this truck was a very large billboard picture of an aborted fetus, along with photos of Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Begich (AK Democratic Senator), showing that they really do vote the same, and Murkowski’s votes and stance are far from Pro-Life and the Alaska Republican Platform. Everyone in attendance saw this truck, as did Murkowski, her name and face alongside the aborted fetus.

Have no doubt – Sarah Palin is the true conservative Pro-Life Alaskan. Murkowski, not so much.

UPDATE: I have received many comments through this blog, facebook, and email, and I’d like to address those. The focus of this article is Life and how two Alaskan women choose to support that Life. The focus of this article is not who attended the convention, or who some think should have attended, nor is it about a picture that some found offensive. I am offended that I have no true Republican representation from my Alaska Senator. I am offended that a sitting senator, who herself admitted has divided the state’s party, spoke at our convention. I am offended that this same senator has chosen not to defund Planned Parenthood, against our party’s platform. Even if federal dollars are not going to be used by Planned Parenthood for abortion services (which I believe they will), the mere fact that this organization exists to kill children is appalling. Are you saying it’s ok to fund an organization that performs thousands of abortions as long as they use the money we give them to buy dixie cups instead? Why is our federal government, that is bleeding profusely from every pore, funding any kind of organization like this? That was the point of my article. Senator Murkowski knows that the issue of Life is one of the strongest platforms our party stands on, and yet she chooses to fund an organization that is the biggest offender of this. She does not represent me. I appreciate all the ladies who were in attendance at the convention and their comments, but please look in the mirror and ask yourself where you stand. Do you stand with the Alaskan Republican Party and the principles upon which it stands? I’m tired of Republicans rolling over and compromising their principles in order to “get along” with everyone. Sarah Palin was correct when she said the GOP has the fighting instincts of sheep. Remember what our guest speaker Gisela said? We must stand up and not back down. We have to stand for what we believe in. And as I see it, Sen. Murkowski stood for what she believes in when she voted the way she did, and Sarah Palin choose to stand by her principles when she gave birth to Trig and continues to speak out about Life to this day. I’m glad Gov. Palin was not in attendance and chose instead to send a beautiful message to a much wider audience. Well done, Sarah Palin.